From Teammates To Roommates

Not all roommate relationships are perfect. For many people, roommate-related drama is inevitable, and it is rare for a pair of roommates to get along all the time. For Loyola athletes, teammates living together is common.

It’s said familiarity breeds contempt, but senior Loyola track and field runners Jake Mazanke and Peter Archibald have successfully proven that wrong, so far.

Mazanke and Archibald have lived together for four years. Mazanke, a Saint Charles, Illinois, native and broadcast journalism major, and Archibald, a marketing and management double major from Geneva, Illinois, grew up about 15 minutes away from each other. While they attended different high schools, they competed against each other in races and got to know each other prior to coming to Loyola.

Mazanke said many first-year Loyola athletes will initially live with non-athletes but eventually switch to live with teammates or other athletes. While this is the norm, it might not always be the best option for everybody. Just being teammates does not guarantee two athletes will get along perfectly. But that is not the case for Mazanke and Archibald.

“For some people, rooming with a teammate can be difficult,” said Archibald. “But we have a strong friendship. We both want to watch each other succeed.”

While track is a big part of both of their lives, Archibald and Mazanke insist the importance of balancing athletics and normal college life.

“It does get a little tricky,” said Mazanke. “Sometimes you need to separate, you know… there [are] times to turn on and off the whole athlete thing … Peter and I are competitors, but we’re going to be friends first.”

According to Archibald, open conversations with teammates can help prevent the Ramblers from performing poorly. A danger for teammates who are roommates is that personal issues may carry over into practices. Both Mazanke and Archibald said they think they and most athletes are good at not letting any disagreements at home affect the team.

“Sometimes it’s hard,” Mazanke said. “But from what I’ve seen, athletes that live together get along a little bit better because you know you have something in common. Usually the big [problems] stay away.”

The problems have stayed away from the track, too. Mazanke had a career-year last year and just missed qualifying for nationals by one position, and this year, Archibald won the first three races of his season.

Both are next scheduled to race in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships on Feb. 27 and 28 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Assistant Sports Editor

Dylan is a senior majoring in philosophy with a journalism minor. He is from Tinley Park, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, and is the oldest of eight children. He likes to stay active, and once climbed the third tallest mountain in North and South America, Pico de Orizaba.